University of Guelph professor set to plot vodka trail

Guelph Mercury

GUELPH — First came the hallowed whisky trails of Scotland. Closer to home, the wine trails in southern Ontario and British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley followed. Now, the small European country of Estonia is eyeing its own claim to fame — a world-renowned vodka trail — thanks to Guelph researchers.

While visiting Estonia, U of G marketing and consumer studies professor Brent McKenzie observed the strong connection Estonians have with vodka. That led McKenzie and undergraduate student Mark Samman to investigate how vodka’s historical significance could enhance Estonian tourism.

A spinoff, they thought, might be how their experiences might improve the “trail” literature here at home … or bigger yet, how to create similar attractions here in Ontario.

“The concept of ‘trails’ really are good ways to attract tourists, and this province has a lot of assets — such as our craft breweries, for example — that we could better utilize for that purpose,” McKenzie said. “But Estonia specifically has a rich, interesting history that has a lot to do with vodka. Highlighting that history in relation to its production would be a great attraction.”

McKenzie is using a form of what’s called “participatory action research.” That is, he and Samman are directly involving themselves in the project to achieve an end goal, rather than just providing objective analysis. For this project, their first step is recognizing vodka’s cultural and historical importance to Estonia.

McKenzie says the name of what we know as vodka today came from the Slavic word voda, meaning water, and has been part of the Baltic region for centuries.

In Estonia, the industry has steadily grown over the years. But it’s had a dark history associated with it, due in part to high rates of alcoholism in some surrounding countries.

Despite these realities, the researchers believe there’s room for positive change in how Estonia perceives and capitalizes on vodka tourism. And, although Russia is often celebrated worldwide as the heralded vodka czar, Estonia has a unique, architectural claim to the spirit’s fame, which McKenzie suggests be the foundation of the vodka trail — that is, the 17th and 18th century manor homes that dot the country.

In addition to serving as the private residences of local nobility and dignitaries, these homes worked as local distilleries by making vodka for the estate and surrounding community. Most of these homes no longer produce spirits as they once did. However, many have become tourist destinations in the form of hotels or resorts.

“These manor homes could be mapped out just like the historic whisky distilleries in Scotland. Plus, many of them are already tourist destinations, so there’s an advantage there,” says McKenzie.

McKenzie is currently in Estonia speaking with the owners of these manor houses about vodka making, and the potential benefits of being part of a national tourist attraction such as a vodka trail.

Funding for this project is provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

This article was written by a participant in the Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge (SPARK) program at the University of Guelph.